Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

Ghosts I-IV is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license.


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Artist/Composer: Nine Inch Nails
Date: 2008-03-02
Source: http://ghosts.nin.com/
Keywords: Nine Inch Nails; Trent Reznor; Ghosts; Industrial; Instrumental; Rock; Alternative; Electro; Electronic

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States

Notes

This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as... something.

The team: Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder and myself with some help from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew and Brian Viglione. Rob Sheridan collaborated with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create the accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.

We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.

The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we're able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed - from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we've ever created.

More volumes of Ghosts are likely to appear in the future.

- Trent Reznor, March 2, 2008
ghosts.nin.com

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Reviewer: splue - - March 10, 2011
Subject: wow/cool 5*****
totally unexpected sound....cinematic!!!

Reviewer: The Bridge - - November 18, 2010
Subject: From an old dude
I did not play the whole thing, but rather listened to where my pointer rested and I clicked. Each of what I listened to, I LIKED! Must be nice to get together and create something new, also enjoying yourself as you do it. ENJOYMENT wow what a concept. If this is your thing - enjoy and have fun with it, although there are some serious places, do as you feel you should, it will work out.

Reviewer: ambientmusiclover1212 - - September 13, 2009
Subject: Amazing...
I'm familiar with NIN, but I don't own any of their albums. Well, except for this one. It might be ambient and instrumental, when compared to their regular industrial beats and vocals, but being an ambient music lover, this is, too, right up my alley. Yes, this music might just be a sketchpad for song ideas instead of actual songs, but still, these "songs" are amazing for what they are! Highly recommended listening...

Reviewer: Zaorish - - June 26, 2008
Subject: Love it
I hate "heavy metal" and have avoided NIN like the plague, but this is pure ambient stuff, right up my alley.

Reviewer: killer_09 - - June 26, 2008
Subject: Ghosts 37 and 38
two additional tracks were released only on the multitrack DVD

Reviewer: Francisco Caro - - May 7, 2008
Subject: Fantastic
I've never been a huge fan of NIN, thus i known them for long, and this is fantastic. finally artists are getting the rush of having complete artistic freedom, far away from the record companyes...

congrats! NIN good move.

By the way great album too.

Reviewer: NorthofTexas - - March 27, 2008
Subject: Enjoyable ambience
Having been a NIN fan from way back, I was excited to see this album on the Archive.

The music is quite cinematic and never boring. The kind of album you just put your headphones on and close your eyes.

Thanks Trent.

Reviewer: norelpref - - March 23, 2008
Subject: Great business model
While I applaud loudly the DIY ethic and the business model espoused by NIN and Radiohead I have to say that "Ghosts" left me wanting a bit more substance. When I saw that Adrian Belew was on board, I expected some really interesting noises. However, Belew's contributions are minor and in some cases barely audible.

The sparse piano stuff and overly distorted guitar sections could have been lifted from any modern package of samples.

As material for film, perhaps this music works on that level. But there's nothing very extraordinary here, in my view. Ambient? Perhaps. But Eno and Fripp were doing works far more compelling than this in the seventies.

that said, I hope to see more artists using this "business" model.

Reviewer: Hicc - - March 23, 2008
Subject: Excellent!
Probably my favourite Nine Inch Nails so far, I must admit! Excellent work, Trent!

Andy N

HICC - http://www.archive.org/details/hicc-records
Setting Sun - http://www.archive.org/details/setting-sun

Reviewer: aisforaquabat - - March 23, 2008
Subject: Mmmm... Ambient.
I have to be honest; I did not like NIN at all until I heard about Ghosts I-IV. After giving it a go, I'm pleasantly surprised. Great ambient music that makes time seem like it's going in slow-motion. So, give it a go, even if you don't enjoy NIN's other material.

Reviewer: Diana Hamilton - - March 21, 2008
Subject: New media model a go
In the mainstream recently, Radiohead's "pay what you want," now followed by NIN's "do what you want" (within the CC license). Thumbs up for philosophy, and for the roomy instrumentals.